Fishing Reports

This is where our "no lies" reporting policy bites me!

Ever since the full moon on the 8^th of this month, the fishing has been bit frustrating.

The Tiri area pretty much shut down and this came as no surprise as there has been a lot of commercial activity behind the island. Longliners and purse seiners have been doing well in the 40 metre area and over the other side of the Telecom marine reserve (ha ha ha) in 50 metres or so. They are allowed to be there of course but it does tick you off seeing them shut the gate like that and only a mile or so off the island. In one day they were pulling 150 – 200 bins of fish out of the place. Not to be outdone we went and fished amoung them with only mixed results. It was as if the fish weren’t taking baits except for those on the longlines and were quite content to swim into the trawl net.

The 50 metre area in the Gulf was getting quite a bit of attention from both our boats and Alan (TEREHU) even spent a few evenings out there, cleaning up on most trips. Large Gurnard (up to 52cm) were part of the catch most days, as were John Dory and Snapper. Graham T, one of the forum members and regular fisho, landed a Dory that pulled the scales down to 9.2lb! Shame it wasn’t on contest day. There has also been quite a bit of baitfish around the deeper areas out here including balls of Pilchards and pack attacks of Slimy mackerels. Dolphins and Whales have also made an appearance. But as the water heated up and the commercial boats took a share, it wasn’t long before we were struggling to find a patch that was going to feed and hence we have moved on.

Flat Rock can be a real be a patchy place to fish and this has proven to be the case so far this month. One day you’re there and doing well the next you can struggle to even find a Snapper. There are of course the Kingfish to have a go at but this too can prove frustrating if you don’t have the patience. The end of the tide seems to be best when live baiting and I prefer a deeper set live bait of the small Kahawai variety. Koheru are also good livies and can be easier to catch than a Kahawai, using sabikis or small baits on small hooks.

The islands south of Kawau were running red hot but alas this area too is now only offering a lot of small Snapper with the odd bigger fish amoungst it. The fish have been picky over this way too, but the longliners have been working the area for a couple of months showing us that there is fish there but only taking tough baits that are left to soak for a few hours at both ends of the day. There has been the odd story of fish in Whangaparaoa Bay but I have only found good numbers of small Snapper and Kahawai in here this month. The change of light might be the go of course and now that the holiday period is coming to an end there will be a lot less traffic around the reefs spooking the fish.

We were heading home the other day through the Tiri Passage and were watching the 200 odd boats anchored there. It must be a maze of rope and chain in some places at times. No wonder the fish are a bit hesitant to feed with all that noise and activity going on.

The worm beds south of Whangaparaoa and the couple of obstructions north of the Noises and Rakino are also not fishing very well. We spent nearly all of last January out this way with pretty good results but it hasn’t shown much promise at all yet.

As you can see it is not a very rosy picture we paint this month so out of pure frustration we were off to Town. I hardly ever fish the channels around Auckland but bit the bullet yesterday and went down to Motuihe. The channel fished well in the morning but slowed up in the afternoon. Having a selection of baits was a good idea as the fish were there but being a bit picky. Mullet of all things was the preferred bait either on a running rig or flasher rig. The pink flashers were the pick of them. No fish of editorial mention just "pannies" and no takers on the Rapalas on the way to and from.

The fishing will improve of course as the Snapper feed up and prepare themselves for the upcoming winter by putting on a layer of fat. February is normally a pretty good month for fishing and last years diary shows good results from the 50 metre area, Tiri Channel, Flat Rock and the foul along the back of Kawau Island.

Bring it on!

Give us a call if you would like to get out on the water. MATANGI and TEREHU are both available for Day and Evening trips. Phone 09 4240607 or the boats 025 2446346. Email us at deepsea@clear.net.nz

FREMAR and THOMCAT are both away till the end of March. THOMCAT tagged and released her first Marlin last week off the top of Great Barrier. Congrats' to Chris and crew.

Damian

THE CHARTER CONNECTION – where fishing is catching